West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-04-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGE,.
THE BROOKLYN DIVTNE's sun
DAY SERMON
Subject: what is the Moral EncCt
OF Secret Societies ="

Gv'Plc too inuCi tllspn>Cd 10 tell all they knew.
lt was blab, blab, blab; physicians revealing
tho casa Of their patients, lawyers exposing
the private affairs OF their clientS ucighbors
advert sing the faults of the next door resi-
dent pretended friends bctraying condolences.
Onc-hait Of thc trouble Of every community
comes from the fact that 50 many peoplo have
no capacity 10 keep their mouths shut
When hear something disparaging Of YOU
my hrSt duty is not 90 tell you But II | tell
you what somebody has said against YOU.
and then go out dnd tell everybody els, what
told YOU and they so out and trll pthors
what told them that | told YOU and we all
50 out, some TO hunt up the originator of the
story and others 10 hunt H. down, we shall Get
the who.e community talking about what
you did dc and what YOU did not do and
there will 30 as many sralp5 taken As though
a band OF Modocs had swept upbn 4 helpless
village. Mo have two ears hut only one
tongue, n physiological suggestion that we
ought 10 hear good deal more than we tell
Let us join conspiracy that we will tell
each other all the good and nothing OF the
ill, and thcu there viii not bs such awful need
OF sermons ON SUlomou's words: "DiscUvcr
not a secret 20 another
Solomon had very largo domestic circle
In his earlier days ne had very confused no
tons about monogamy and polygamy, and
MS multtudinous associates in the matrimo-
mai state kept him too well informed Rs 20
what was going on in Jerusalem. They gath
oicd up oil the priyacies OF the city and
poured them into his ear, and his family be-
200 discussing day after day all the Difficult
ties between husbands and wives between
employers and employees, between rulers and
SUBJECTS, uutu SOLOMON, In my text, dcplorcs
Nolubiltty about affairs that do not belong TO
Us and extols the virtue of secrotiveness
by the power OF a secret divulged families
churches, neighborhoOds, nations ny apart
by tho power of secret kept great charities,
socialittes rctorInatory movements and Chris
tian enterprises may be advanced. Men are
gregarlous-cattle I'm herds, fish I'm schools,
birds in ilocks, men in social circles. You
may by the discharge Of a gun scatter
a hock OF quails or by the plunge Of
the anchor send apart tho denisens OF tho
sea, but they viii gather themselves together
again. III you, by some new power could
break the associations In which men now
stand, they would agnin adhere. God meant
u so. lie has gathered all the flowers and
shrubs into associations You may plant one
forgetting not or hearts-ease alone, away Off
upon tho hillside, but IL viii soon hunt
UP some other forget-me-not or hearts
ease. Plants love company. You will find
them talking 10 each other In the dew A
galaxy of stars is only n mutual life insur-
ance company. You sometimes SEQ a man
with TO out-branchings Of sympathy. His
nature IL cold and hard like ships mast
tce-gazed, which the most agile sailor
could never climb. Others have a thousand
roots aud thousand branches. In
numerable tendris climb their hearts,
and blossom all the way uD and the fowls
Of heaven sing i'm the branches In conse-
qucncc Of this tendency wo find men coming
together I'm tribes in communities, in churches
IN societies. Some gather together 20 culti-
vate the arts, some TO plan for the welfare OF
tho state, some 10 discuss religious themes
some 10 kndletheir mirth, some 20 advance
their craft 30 every active community is
divided into associations of artists of
merchants, of bookbinders, OF carpenters. OF
masons, of plasterers, OF shipwrights, of
plumbers. Do you cry out against ti Then
you cry out against n tendency dvinely i'm
planted. Your TRADES would accomplish no
moro than II you should preach 10 busy
secret societies.
Hero We find tho oft-discussed question
whether associations that do thoir work with
closed doors and admit their members by
pas words, and greet each other with n
secret grip arc right or wrong. I answer
that IT depends entirely on the nature Of the
object for which they meet Is IL TO pasg
the hours in revelry, wassail, basphemy
to tho State, or 30 debauch tho in.
nocent, then shy with an emphasir
that no man can mistake: MOI But Is the
object tho defence Of the rights Of any class
against oppression, the Improvement of the
mind, the enlargement OF the heart the ad-
vancoment Of art, the defense Of the govern.
ment, the extirpatiOn Of crime or the kind
ling OF pure-h hearted socinlity, then I say.
with just as much emphasis: Yes
There Is no need that we who plan for the
conquest OF right over wrong should publish
% oil the world our intentions Tho General
OF an army never sends 10 tho oppOsinR
troops information OF the coming attack
Shall we who have enlisted in the cause ~
God and humanity expose our plans 10
tho enemy No we will i'm secret
plot tho ruin Of all the enteruriseS
Of Satan ami his cohorts When
they expect us by day, wo will fall upon them
by night Whio they are strengthening
their left wing VIC viii double up their rigbf
By plan OF battle formed in secret conciave
We VIII come suddenly upon them crying:
no sword OF th9 Lord and Of Gideon
Hecre3y OF plot md execution arc wrong
only when the object and ends ace
neiariOus. Every family is secret
Society, every business firm and every
banking and insurance institution Those
men who have no capacity t. keep a
secret are unfit for positions ~ trust any.
where. There are thousands Of men wh0.e
vital need Is culturng n capacity ~ keepa
secret. Men talk too much and women too.
there IS Time TO Keep silence az well as
time % speak.
Although not belonging 10 any Of the great
secret societies about which there has been
80 much violent discussion, / have only words
on praise Tor those associations which have for
their object tho maintenance Of right ay3iiugt
wrong, or tho reclamation Of inebriatcs or
like the score of mutual benefit societies
called by different names that pro.
vide temporary relief for widows and
orphans, and for men inCauaritatlI by sick.
ness OF accident from earning livelihood
Had ~ not been Tor The large nunbcT of
secret labor organizations in this country
monopoly would long ngo have under its
ponderous wheels, ground tho nbOring
Glasses into an mtOlerable seryitudo
The mon who want the whole earth
- Themselves would have got 90 b.
fore this, had IL not bccn Tor the
banding together Of great secret orgoniza-
tlons And, while we doplOre many thing
that have been done by them their existence
is necessity, and their legitimate sphere dis.
tnctly pointed out by the providence OF Col
such organizations are trying dismiss from
their association all members in favor of
anarchy and social chaos They will gradu-
nuy'ceaeo anything like tyranny over their
members and will forbid violent Interference
with any mans work whether be- BELONGS to
their union or il outside of IL, aud viii declare
their disgust with any such rule as that pissed
in England by the Manchester Brickiayors'
Association, which says any man found run
ming or working beyond n regular speed,
shall be fined two shillngs and six
pence for tho frst. ofcuec. five shil.
lingn for tho second, ton shillings FOR tho
third and IN still psriytiug shall be- dealt with
as the committee think proper There nre
secret societies in our colleges chat have letters
Of the Greek alphabet for their nomenclature.
and their members are at the very front Ina
scholarship and irreproachablo in morals.
while there are others tho scene Of carougal.
and they gamble, and they drink
and they graduate knowing n hundred
times more about dn than they do Of geCn1e-
go y A. r.